Ron Turner named consultant to coaching staff

Veteran of 12 NFL coaching seasons who worked with Ron Rivera in Chicago will be involved in self scouting throughout the season.

CHARLOTTE – The Panthers have added Ron Turner, a veteran of 12 NFL coaching seasons, as a consultant to the coaching staff.

Turner, most recently the head coach at Florida International from 2013-16, last worked in the NFL as the quarterbacks coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012.

“He’ll work closely with the offense as far as evaluating the things that we’re doing, evaluating our opponents,” head coach Ron Rivera said. “And then he’ll also do some stuff for (defensive coordinator) Steve Wilks, looking at what we’re doing and explaining how people might try to attack our defense.

“He’s got a wealth of knowledge as a guy who coached at the NFL and college level for a number of years.”

This is a reunion of sorts for Rivera, Wilks and Turner, who all worked together on the 2006 Chicago Bears team that went to Super Bowl XLI.

“They’re great guys; smart, good coaches, but most importantly good people,” said Turner, who was then the offensive coordinator for the Bears.

Turner’s connections to Carolina are plentiful. Cam Turner, Ron’s son and the Panthers’ assistant quarterbacks coach, coached the quarterbacks and receivers at FIU in 2013-14. In addition to the 2006 Bears, Turner worked with Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula in Chicago in 1995-96 and defensive line coach Eric Washington in 2008-10. Tight end Greg Olsen joined Turner and Co. with the Bears in 2007 as a first-round draft choice.

A decade later, Turner will again work with Olsen, now one of the core pieces of a unit that finished as the league’s top scoring offense in 2015.

"I've been around a lot of good players, but I don't think I've been around an offense with so many, starting with the quarterback," Turner said. "What Cam Newton can do is phenomenal. There's nothing he can't do. Olsen still looks as good as he did when he was a rookie and this is his 11th season.

"It's exciting just to be a small part of it. Just to be around it, observe it and watch it is going to be tremendous."